Kannur: The recruitments to Kannur University have been under scrutiny for a while over nepotism and breach of norms. Kannur District Congress Committee (DCC) president Martin George has alleged that there had been serious lapses while appointing the wife of KK Ragesh, a CPM leader and the current Private Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as an associate professor in the Malayalam department of the University.
Recently, the appointment of Dr Priya Varghese was opposed by the "Save University Campaign Committee" which pointed out that she had only one month teaching experience after getting PhD.
The DCC president alleged that even candidates, who did not have the required qualifications, were included in the interview list.
“Priya Varghese with a research score of close to 150 got 32 marks in the interview; while Dr Joseph Skaria with a research score of nearly 650 got 30 marks. The marks of others: Dr C Ganesh - 28, Dr P P Prakashan - 26, Dr Mohammed Rafique - 22, Dr D Rejikumar – 21,” Martin George pointed out.
“The minutes also stated that only five publications of one candidate could be considered and that person has been interviewed and his marks recorded. As the eligibility criteria is seven publications, a candidate without that qualification should not have been interviewed. When a similar situation arose at the Calicut University, the candidate was turned away.
“Four of the 10 applications for the post were rejected on the ground that these did not have the required qualifications. It has emerged that they had high research score and the necessary qualification. Action should be taken against the members of the screening committee who excluded them and included candidates who are ineligible.
“The Calicut University had given first rank to Dr Joseph Skaria in the rank lists for the posts of professor and associate professor. This is proof of the nepotism in the Kannur University. All appointments made by the Kannur VC should be scrutinised. The rank list of the Malayalam Associate professor should be cancelled. If there is any attempt to make appointments from this list, will consider taking legal action," the DCC president added.
A set of documents sourced under the Right To Information Act earlier revealed that Dr Priya does not have the basic qualification for applying to the post of Associate Professor in the Kannur University.
